(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electric connector used for connection of electric wires and to an electric connector unit including the connector.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Various electronic instruments are mounted on a motor vehicle as a mobile unit. The motor vehicle includes a wiring harness for transmitting electric power and control signals to the electronic instruments. The wiring harness includes a plurality of electric wires and connectors. The electric wire is a so-called coated wire which includes an electrically conductive core wire and an electrically insulating coating that coats the core wire.
A connector (i.e. electric connector) to be connected to an air bag as the electronic instrument includes an electrically insulating connector housing, a terminal fitting received in the connector housing and connected to a gas generator of the air bag, another terminal fitting received in the connector housing and grounded (i.e. connected to the ground), and a short circuit terminal for connecting the terminal fittings to each other.
The two terminal fittings described above are connected to the gas generator and the ground, respectively, through respective electric wires. The short circuit terminal disconnects the two terminal fittings from each other when the connector is coupled with a mating connector, while the short circuit terminal connects the two terminal fittings to each other when the coupling of the connector and the mating connector is removed.
The short circuit terminal includes a body to be received in the connector housing and a pair of resilient contacting pieces continuing to the body. Each of the pair of the resilient contacting pieces is formed in a belt-shape and comes in resilient contact with the terminal fitting (i.e. comes in contact with the terminal fitting being resiliently deformed). The resilient contacting pieces are formed in parallel to each other. That is, the short circuit terminal (i.e. the body of the short circuit terminal) is not arranged between the two terminal fittings but arranged at a position where the short circuit terminal overlaps with the two terminal fittings.
When the connector is disconnected from the mating connector, for example, for subjecting the air bag to the maintenance thereof, static electricity might be undesirably supplied to the gas generator to cause malfunction of the gas generator. This is a reason why the short circuit terminal connects the two terminal fittings to each other when the coupling of the connector and the mating connector is removed.
As for the conventional connector described above, since the short circuit terminal is arranged at a position where the short circuit terminal overlaps with the two terminal fittings, therefore in order to receive the short circuit terminal, the connector housing needs a space for receiving the two terminal fittings. That is, the connector housing needs a space to receive the short circuit terminal therein, resulting in that a size of the connector housing tends to be enlarged, that is, a size of the connector tends to be enlarged.